Already, the yearbook staff at Miami Palmetto Senior High had snapped more than 3,000 photographs — capturing key football games, pep rallies and the Homecoming dance.

But early Friday, someone entered the second-story yearbook room through a window, stealing $18,000 in computers and accessories. Stored on those eight iMacs: all the staff's work for the 2010 yearbook.

"My heart just sank," said senior Dominic Bisceglia, the yearbook's editor-in-chief. "We had done so much work, and all of it was lost." » read more

Ryan Nettleton was serving his second tour in Iraq when he learned his police officer brother Trevor had been shot and killed Thursday in Las Vegas.

Without sleeping or showering, the 26-year-old specialist from Tacoma flew to Kuwait, then Washington, D.C., then Washington state.

Upon landing Saturday, he headed straight to Fort Lewis to pick up his dress blues so he could honor the older brother who inspired him to join the military. » read more

WICHITA, Kan. — Someone broke into a shed used by the nonprofit alcohol and drug treatment agency Parallax Program early Saturday morning and stole numerous wrapped presents destined for the children of adults undergoing treatment.

"What this means is that some of the clients' children might not have a Christmas like we planned for," said Kim Rogers, who manages the coffee shop at Parallax.

The gifts, which came from Toys for Tots, were stolen from a storage shed at 830 S. Hillside sometime between 2 and 6 a.m. Saturday, Rogers said. » read more

CARY, N.C. — Blanchard, a 22-week-old pet rooster, was killed while strutting in his owners' yard Saturday morning by a hawk that should have been hunting for rabbits.

Ann Richard and her husband, Dieter Griffis, got the startling news when the hawk's owner paid a visit to their Green Level Church Road home to apologize. The owner told the couple, who were too distraught to catch his name, that he had been hunting with his hawk on a farm across the street.

The hawk, which was released to hunt rabbits during an extended North Carolina falconry season, flew to the couple's property and mauled Blanchard, a light Brahma chicken, a breed originally imported from India and named for its white base coloring. » read more

Burn victim Michael Brewer lives in a limited world, one of bandages and painkillers.

But beyond the walls of the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center, he is a celebrated cause.

More than a month after the Deerfield Beach teenager was attacked, the fundraisers continue, the cards still arrive and people around the globe include him in their prayers. » read more